


Landlocked

by canibecandid



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe: Sirens, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Darcyland, Modified Greek Myths, Multi, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-30
Updated: 2015-06-10
Packaged: 2018-04-02 01:49:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4041034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canibecandid/pseuds/canibecandid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There would always be a debt to pay to the waves that crashed along the shorelines, her mouth in a set grim line. <br/>It would take her no matter how hard they would fight for her. They would take on the world for each other, and in time, for her as well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Her mind swam as viciously as the ocean churned. It called to her, to bring her home and continue Darcy's long forgotten quest of finding Persephone.

Still, she gazed out at the sea with a longing sigh. Her skin shimmered and sang as it greedily lapped up the water droplets that fell. Darcy sank to her knees in the sand as the tide grew higher, white foam skating the tips of her shoes before shrinking away. And she gave into it, just for a moment, as she tipped her head back and let the rain run over her, her lips moving in a silent hymn that had been passed down for generations and etched into her bones.

A wave crashed into the shore and Darcy met it with her hand, her skin shimmering and melding into the water.

Thunder rumbled ominously overhead, jerking Darcy out of her trance, and she rose shakily to her feet, shoving her still translucent hand into her jacket and scurrying back to her car and away from the ocean's call. She closed the door, started the car and cranked up the heat, shoving her hands in front of the warm blast. And a small part of herself cried out in anguish as the water clearness became soft flesh once again, and Darcy sighed a little checking her mirrors.

She paused, as she often did after a storm, and watched the dreamy shimmer dance over her skin, her eyes wide and a tempest entirely their own. A single sanddollar skidded across her dashboard as she shifted into gear and eased out of the empty parking lot, rattling its teeth as she drove back towards land and to the tower.

Her mother could never resist the oath taken generations ago, when the gods still bartered with mortals, even if her love was on the land. Her mother had taught her the ways of the ocean and why Darcy felt compelled to sing to its waves and crashes.

It was an echoing of her call, the siren's song, to beg her to return to the water. The search for Persephone must continue, it reminds her. The gods' wills will always come before her own.


	2. The end of summer

The first time the Avengers notice something is wrong, it's the ending of summer and heading into the fall, and Darcy is splayed out on the floor and her mouth moving and shaping soundless words.

It's Clint who finds her after JARVIS sounds the medical alert and carries her down to the medical bay. She's hot and fevered to the touch, eyes glassed as she continues to chant, her head lolling on to his chest. JARVIS continues to scan her, but only concludes that she's suffering from an acute case of dehydration. An inhuman case of dehydration, the AI concludes.

"That doesn't make any sense! Darcy drinks more water than a camel getting ready for the Sahara!" Clint shouts as the elevator closes with a metallic hiss and they drop several floors.

"Agent Barton, Prince Thor has used his override code, insisting that we are headed in the wrong direction."

"Yeah, well, Prince Thor can shove his hammer up his-" The doors hiss open and Clint's threat dies on his lips as he takes in the normally jovial Asgardian's solemn face. Thor takes Darcy without a word and shakes his head with a weary sigh.

"It is worse than I feared. We must hurry. Friend JARVIS, we require the largest body of water in the tower."

"Prince Thor, I am required to do what is best for the patient and their medical concern."

"Aye. The largest body of water." The tone of his voice brooked no argument and Clint could only watch in horror as the doors opened to the large indoor pool and Thor lowered Darcy into the pool.

Like a match to the flame, the second she touched the water, Darcy's words turned into a storming sea of song. Clint fell to the floor as his hearing aids shrieked, pocketing them quickly as he watched the intern's skin shimmer and the water boil and churn around her.

"JARVIS, lock the room down!" He called out, hoping the AI heard him. Thor stayed on bended knee next to the water's edge, murmuring something that vaguely looked like Greek to Clint's eyes.

The Allspeak at work, Clint concluded as he pushed himself to his feet as the water overflowed from the pool to the concrete decking, soaking through his sock clad feet. Darcy's voice continued to pour over the room, vibrating the floors beneath his feet and water to crash and foam.

Then everything stopped.

Water hung suspended in the air, bubbles and spirals slowly rising from the ground and holding themselves in place, shimmering gently on Clint's skin as he put a cautious hand to a larger droplet. Thor continued to watch Darcy, unmoving, as her eyes stood wide and her mouth hung open but no sound came. Her skin glowed brightly, her upper body being tugged towards the ceiling as if by an invisible force, then she blinked and everything ended.

Water that was suspended came down with a great crash and Darcy sank slowly under the water's surface as Thor climbed and gathered her in his arms.

"The passing of seasons has ended, brother Clint." Thor spoke as Clint fiddled around with the volume as he placed his hearing aids back in.

"What even?" Clint sighed heavily, scrubbing a hand down his face as Thor climbed the steps out of the pool. The wet squelching noise of his socks on the pool deck ruins the stoic and somber moment, and also causes Cling to look down at his own feet. A similar squelching noise makes him curl his lips into a grimace.

"Aw, socks, why?" He turns an eye back to the Asgardian and the passed out not-quite-human intern as they head towards the door. "Can she go to medical _now_?"

Thor gives an easy shrug as JARVIS disengages the lock down and Clint opens the door for him to pass through.

"All is well again, but if you insist, I am sure a visit to the healer will not go remiss."

The elevator doors open, they step inside, and Clint looks down at the still unconscious Darcy and then back up to Thor.

"Yeah, I'm going to have to insist on it buddy."


	3. The Siren's Song

The greeting they received after depositing Darcy in medical was about what Clint expected.  
"What, in as little carny speak as possible, the hell happened on the pool deck?" Tony demanded, waving what might have been an arm to one of the bots in his general direction.

  
"I will have you know that this time, I had nothing to do with it." Clint grinned hooking his thumbs in his belt loops. "Clint Francis Barton, innocent bystander and key witness in strange mythical happenings."

  
"For once." Natasha intoned, quirking a manicured eyebrow and quick grin playing her lips.  
"For once." Clint agreed.

"For once, my shiny metal ass. What happened? JARVIS said you activated a lockdown, the deck is flooded, and the pool is missing half of it's water and now has an over concentrated amount of chlorine in it." Tony rattles off, pulling a holo-remote from his pocket with his other hand. The robotic arm sways back and forth until it clamps on to Tony's leg. "Oh stop whining, U, you can't even get sea sick."

  
Clint snorts and his shoulders shake in almost hysterical laughter. "It'd be kind of appropriate given the circumstances."

  
"Spit it out, Barton."  
Clint sobered almost immediately at the tone of Steve's voice. "You're not gonna believe this, but Darcy is a siren."

  
There's an odd silence, the door clicking shut quietly behind Thor and all eyes snap to the god.  
"Thor?" Jane hesitated moving towards the door.

  
"Lady Darcy is fine, she requires rest now." Thor states, placing a gentle hand on Jane's shoulder as she hovers closer to the door.  
"It would be unwise to ask her about her origins at the present time."

  
"We will ask later." Natasha agrees easily.

"Wha- why would that even matter?" Jane balked. "Darcy is my _friend_ , what she is doesn't matter."

  
"We can't be too sure." Steve says, crossing his arms but unable to hide a flinch at how quickly the young doctor turned to him.

  
"You've seen Darcy. You've seen her take the stairs during those stupid fire drills! There's no way Darcy could be HYDRA." Jane argued, chin raising in stubborn defiance.

  
"I never said HYDRA."

Jane scoffed at Steve as he said the words.  
"Yes, well, it was greatly implied."

  
"Jane." Thor said gently, laying a warm hand on her shoulder once more. "Our friends are hurt by her secrets. _You_ are hurt by her secrets."  
Jane's lips trembled and tears gathered. "I just want her to be _okay_."  
Thor drew her into his arms and stroked her hair. "She will have a speedy recovery, rest assured."

  
"You, ah, know a lot about sirens?" Bruce asked, shuffling his feet and tapping his glasses on his fingers anxiously.  
"Aye. The people of Vanaheim were praised as midgardian gods, for a time. It is through the Vanir that they became one of the Hulder."

"I believe that they called her Demeter, one of the old ones. She set a spell on midgardian women for a time to search for her children. Her oldest child choosing to take refuge in the Niflheim, only chooses to walk upon Midgard during the summer months."

  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. The legend of Persephone. Girl meets boy, boy kidnaps girl, girl has an arguable case of Stockholm Syndrome, boy frees girl to bring the summer months across the globe. Touching story, really." U's arm punctuating as Tony mimed along, rolling his eyes.

  
Unaffected by Tony, Thor continued. "It has become something of a cruelty. They are bound to their homes. It is a wonder that the Lady Darcy has been landlocked these many years."

"The Hulder come in many forms, Darcy is what you'd call a siren. For a time, they lived in peace among the midgardians. Favorable seas, guiding ships, warnings of on coming storms." A hot stripe of fury glances over Thor's face as he tells the history of Darcy's people. "Until they were slaughtered for their skins."

  
"Because of the glitter lights show?" Clint question, flopping into a plastic chair.

  
"Of a sort. When in tune, their skin becomes one with the waters, unseen to the eye. Their heads were mounted on the helms of ships as a warning of power. Bodies of the sea crucified to ward off a tempest."  
"Enraged, they fought back. They used their calls to bring lesser mortals the tide, pods becoming warriors when they were meant to bring loved ones home."

  
"Then why doesn't Persephone just make themselves known? Wouldn't they be free of their debt?" Natasha wondered aloud, expression calculating.

  
"If they were so inclined, but they are unmoved. They think of the chase as source of great humor." Thor shook his head sadly. "Persephone is known for many things, but mercy is not one of them."

Steve's jaw ticked, eyes flicking towards the small room that Darcy occupied. "That's just not right." He straightened and turned towards the Prince. "Isn't there anything you can say? Or do? Isn't Asgard supposed to help bring peace?"

  
"That is true, Steven," Thor started, crossing his arms over his expansive chest. "but the Vanir's old magic cannot be broken, their strings have already been threaded. The All Father can do many things, but even he cannot control fate."

  
"So why the typhoon at the pool?" Tony asked, scrubbing a hand through his hair, pacing in circle.

  
"You said something about the end of summer?" Clint supplied, hands twisting the words as he spoke.

  
"When Persephone takes their leave of Midgard, an ending of the summer months, the Hulder are sent into desperation. It appears that the withdrawal is magnified when they have not sought reprieve in their-" Thor pauses as the Allspeak tries to find the right word. "Home." He says it as a grimace. The word does not hold the same weight.  
"Darcy is one of the water. It runs in her veins as her lifeline, it holds her. Homes can be moved and taken, destroyed and rebuilt. It- it is not something I can put into words. Even Asgard does not have the same pull to me."  
His voice holds such conviction that he can only give a small smile as Jane touches his arm softly.

  
"So what do we do?" Steve insisted

  
"For now? There is nothing that can be done. They have returned to Vanaheim and will return at their leisure."

  
"Well, there has to be something." Jane muttered, running a hand through her hair. Only Tony doesn't flinch as JARVIS intones overhead.

  
"My apologies, but it would appear that Ms. Lewis has woken up."

  
All heads turn towards the windows and Darcy's eyes remained carefully blank as she gave a shaky wave.  
"Well, let's go hear a siren's song." Bruce sighed, scrubbing a hand down his face.

* * *

 

In the end, no one asked about it, really. As soon as Bruce opened the door, Jane shoved him out of the way and was tripping towards Darcy's bed, only to shuffle on her feet nervously.  
Jane's hands failed her, flapping around Darcy listlessly. Darcy gave her the tiniest of smiles and Jane wrings her hands. "A-are you okay? We're not sure how much chlorine you absorbed."

  
Darcy took Jane's hand and pressed it to her cheek. She hesitated before turning into the touch, her lips quivering.  
"We were really worried." Jane's voice was soft and shaky.

  
"I'm a little tired, but it's all skittles." The inside joke does it's trick and makes Jane huff a laugh, even if Darcy's voice cracks.

  
"No more fainting spells. Cap's old heart couldn't take it." Tony warned, breaking the moment and patting Steve's massive chest. "Then all of my old man's brains and money would have gone to waste."

  
"Pretty sure Howard was just there to groom his mustache." Steve griped back and Darcy lets out a giggle _this_ side of hysterical. Natasha gave her a smile that should be reassuring, but Darcy's eyes just water with tears.

"Don't you dare start crying. If you start then I start and we both know how unhappy Thor gets when he doesn't know how to make the tears stop." Jane threatened, swiping at her eyes with the back of her hand.

  
Thor placed a heavy hand on Jane's shoulder and looks down at the assistant. "Lady Darcy, I-" he paused, unsure of the right words to reassure her.

  
"Darcy," Bruce spoke lowly from across the room, his arms crossed "it's okay. We all have secrets. Tony spent an entire year dying and didn't tell anyone."

  
"I resent that, but true."

  
"I- I just don't know what to say." Darcy admitted, picking at a loose thread in her blanket with her free hand.

  
"You could start with _'sorry I almost killed you with my voice, Clint.'_ That would be nice." Clint replied grumpily, crossing his arms. Darcy laughed, long and loud at that, a smile slowly crossing each person's face.

"Only lesser men are called to retribution." Thor declared with a jovial laugh, banding an arm around Jane's middle.

  
Darcy hummed in agreement stroking a thumb across the back of Jane's hand that still rested on her cheek until Jane lets go.  
"You're probably tired, dehydration or something?"

Darcy blinked owlishly for a moment at Jane's question, then nodded with a yawn, eye already becoming heavy.

"Go to sleep, we'll be here in the morning." Natasha assured, coming over and tucking Darcy further into the blankets and pushing a few strands of wet hair off of Darcy's forehead. "Rest."

  
With Natasha's final decree, each person made their way out the door as Darcy's eyes closed.

She's almost asleep when a warm hand takes her own and presses a light kiss to her knuckles and then one to her forehead. "Night Darce." The door clicks softly behind Steve as he leaves, then she's out like a light.


End file.
